The Daily - January 27,2022 - 40

Ideas
B I G A C T I O N
BCM executive
director David Taus
in the office.
Big Ideas
New executive director, David Taus, has big
plans for Big City Mountaineers, the storied
nonprofit that expands access to the outdoors
for those who would not otherwise
have the opportunity. By Eugene Buchanan
BASED IN GOLDEN, COLORADO,
Big City Mountaineers is hitting
the trail running in 2022, welcoming
David Taus as its new executive
director. A lifelong youth mentor
with executive roles in education
and youth-focused nonprofits, Taus
well understands the challenge of
growing and sustaining organizations
like BCM, which operates in
six major metro areas-Denver,
San Francisco, Portland, Seattle,
Minneapolis, and Boston-working
with community-based youth
agencies to break down barriers
to outdoor access in order to
provide outdoor experiences for
youth from disinvested communities.
The Daily caught up
with Taus for his take on BCM's
programs and initiatives heading
into 2022, and the importance of
getting youth outside.
BCM canceled in-person programs
in 2020 and delivered a
truncated season in 2021. How is
2022 shaping up?
We're very excited and planning to
deliver programs that exceed preCOVID-19
levels of youth participation.
We're anticipating providing
332 days in the field, which
amounts to almost 46,000 student
hours spent outdoors. We're confident
we can respond to many of
the challenges COVID-19 might
throw our way and are proud that,
in 2021, there weren't any reported
COVID-19 cases on our trips.
40
What did BCM learn/change
from the pandemic that it's
carrying forward?
We've learned to listen deeply to our
youth-agency partners and take cues
from them as to how we can best
serve the youth we're both working
with. COVID-19 put everyone in a
tough spot, and the communities we
serve have been among the most affected.
Having an authentic on-theground
understanding of the specific
issues communities are facing has
been essential. The touchpoints and
methods of connection we established
over the past two years will
continue to be a part of our service
model. We also learned to be flexible
and to manage risk more intentionally-our
program team and
board did an excellent job drafting
COVID-19 policies, protocols, and
emergency action plans. We're going
to keep much of this good work in
place-because we're not done with
COVID-19 yet, and because there
are other risks that we will unfortunately
need to be managing moving
forward, such as those posed by
extreme climate events.
Any program changes
coming up?
We're working on upgrades to our
program model, which includes a
scaffolded approach to our 2022
programming. This means we'll
work more deeply with youth by
giving participants progressively
more immersive touchpoints as a
/ OUTDOOR RETAILER SNOW SHOW 2022
NATURE IS FOR EVERYONE AND IS ONE OF THE
MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO SEE OURSELVES AS
INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES THROUGH
THE CRUCIBLE MOMENTS WE FACE.
program season progresses. Nearly
90% of the youth we serve have
never spent a night outdoors before
coming to BCM, so we want to be
thoughtful about how we introduce
them to it. So, we're formalizing
plans to have each participant
first do a day hike and then a
single-night overnight before
going on our signature weeklong
backcountry expedition. We
piloted and tested this approach
in California in 2021 and got great
feedback from it, and our team has
been working hard to roll this out
nationwide. Our theory is that this
will give youth a better experience
and make it more likely that they'll
better internalize the many benefits
of spending time outside.
How important is it to keep
getting youth outdoors?
Coming out of 2020 and 2021, the
work we've been engaged in for
over 30 years has never been more
relevant or needed. Over the past
two years, people from all parts of
society have turned to nature to
heal, rejuvenate, grow, learn, and
feel a part of something larger than
themselves and their immediate
circumstances. However, individuals
and especially youth who
come from the communities BCM
serves-predominantly BIPOC
identified, typically of fewer financial
means-continue to be among
the most vulnerable to the biological,
ecological, and social stresses
and dangers the world has been
experiencing. Additionally, these
folks continue to be among the
least likely to have access to nature
to support their overall wellbeing.
This should not be. Nature is for
everyone and is one of the most
effective ways to see ourselves
COURTESY DAVID TAUS
The Daily - January 27,2022

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